Madison start-up Central Signal gets $350K grant

Madison, Wis. - Central Signal, LLC, a Madison based company, has been awarded a $350,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture.

The SBIR Phase II research grant will be used to develop a prototype and conduct additional tests on a magnetic sensor that would be used to detect train movements. The technology is being developed in an attempt to improve safety at rural railroad crossings, and provide public entities with a less expensive option than conventional crossing signals.

Dave Baldwin, managing member for Central Signal, said the company's goal is to offer a product for half the cost of available alternatives, and he expects to have the prototype in a testing situation by the end of 2007. He said rural railroad crossings are statistically much less safe than urban crossings because they have comparably fewer signals and because of the higher speeds on rural roadways.

Central Signal had used an $80,000 Phase I grant to test the sensors, which can operate off the power grid, at the Wisconsin and Central Railroad yard on Johnson Street in Madison.

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